


Wonderful Life

by paleonpale



Category: Actor RPF, Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, British Actor RPF, Cumbercollective
Genre: F/M, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 11:46:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleonpale/pseuds/paleonpale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Suicide, love, salvation."</p><p>Benedict goes to one of his favourite spots to be alone. He finds a troubled woman who he is suddenly and inexplicably drawn to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the songs [Wonderful Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TttjeXZYE8) and [The Rope](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAWSzAUaCIM) by Hurts. I love the idea of exploring the two extremes of love at first sight and suicide, and ultimately being saved in the end. While I don't really believe in love at first sight, it is still an interesting idea to think about and explore. Of course my story doesn't do either songs justice but after wanting to do this for the LONGEST time I've finally given it a go :D  
> Rated M just to be safe :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It was late on a Saturday night. Under other circumstances Elise would have noticed how beautiful the night was, large grey clouds moving swiftly across the cold face of the moon, stars popping into brilliance at the passing of the clouds. There was a promise of rain in the smell of the air. But the pain she felt engulfed her entirely and she could no longer find anything beautiful in the world at all.

Her fingers gripped the railings tight as she watched the black water swirling below the bridge, lights dancing across its surface. The breeze whipped her dress about her legs and blew her dark hair around her face.

She absently smoothed the hair away from her tear stained cheeks. She could only think of how all at once terrible and empty she felt inside and how much she needed to do this. For the longest time, her pain had been eating away at her and very simply, she couldn’t bear it any longer and she could not see any alternative. She could not imagine waking up tomorrow to go about her usual existence, continue living in constant fear and anxiety, continue with the marriage she felt completely trapped in. Married to a man who only saw her as something to be owned and his to do with as he chose. She gingerly touched her face, where the most recent bruises were. He was usually more careful that what he did to her wasn’t easily seen by outsiders but he had been barely in control the other night.

 _Twenty six and ready to die_ , Elise found herself thinking, and she almost couldn't believe it herself.

She found herself touching the gold wedding ring on her finger and felt a wave of numbness blanket her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was preparing to let herself go, to plummet down to be embraced by the cold, churning water when she heard a voice behind her.

“Wait!”

Her eyes snapped open and she looked around at the source of the voice. She saw a man a few feet away, concern etched on his face, a hand held up in front of him. He seemed to be keeping his distance, as if afraid of frightening a bird just before it takes off in flight.

She thought she noticed something change in his face when their eyes met, like there was some kind of thread of familiarity between the two of them, but figured she imagined it.

"Are you…are you alright?"

Elise almost laughed at the question. She put on her most practised of winning smiles and quickly dashed her tears away with a hand. “Yes, I’m fine. Please, I’d like to be alone.” She could hear the strain in her own voice and cursed silently, wishing this man would just leave her alone.

The man was persistent. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She turned to face the water again and felt her shoulders sag as she held back yet more tears. She needed this man to leave her alone but clearly he wasn’t going to do that.

"Please. Will you come down?"

Elise shook her head silently, her hands still keeping their hold on the rails of the bridge. She had been so sure she’d be alone here, to disappear quietly.

"I just want to be left alone. Please, just leave." She pleaded. She felt her fingers relax a little, the cold metal under her fingers chilling her hands to the bone.

"Don’t let go." The voice sounded closer now, and very calm.

She knew she shouldn’t but she couldn’t help responding to his voice, the odd calmness in it. Elise knew that just talking to this person would just make it more difficult. But she looked towards him, seeking out his face. She blinked as she realised dimly that he was handsome. Her eyes roamed his masculine face. He had high, prominent cheekbones and full lips. His brows were drawn together slightly and beneath them were eyes filled with complete and unmasked concern as they met her own gaze. He was still reaching out towards her, as if preparing to catch her if she decided to let go.

He took a step closer, close enough to settle a large, warm hand on her own smaller, freezing one. “You can’t do this.” He had her pinned down with his gaze, intensity in those eyes, his voice captivating her.

She tried not to sob, feeling equal parts disbelief and mortification that she was even having this conversation, let alone with a complete stranger. "Why not?"

"Because whatever it is you’re feeling right now, you  _will_  get through it. You may not feel like it is, but...life is wonderful and you can’t just throw away your own."

She shook her head. “Why do you care? You don’t even know me.”

His hand over hers gripped a little tighter. She felt herself tremble slightly under his intense gaze and wasn’t sure why.

"That doesn’t matter."

Elise turned her eyes away from his penetrating stare. It had begun to rain lightly. “I just don’t see any other way out.” She thought she may as well be honest. What did she have to lose? She also felt oddly relieved to be finally talking to someone about this. Ordinarily she wouldn't have reached out to talk to someone—she had always felt unable and unwilling to talk to anyone about it, for various reasons. But in this case she felt like the weight crushing her chest was easing slightly just saying it out loud.

The man paused before saying, “I’ve heard that people who have survived jumping from bridges remember regretting it when they were halfway down. That whatever problem had driven them to losing hope was actually fixable.” Elise felt the pull of his voice and turned her eyes back to his and was instantly pulled in, as if by an anchor at sea. “What I take from that is that...'the best way out is always through'.” He said simply, shrugging a little and giving her a small, lopsided smile.

The quote wasn’t lost on her and she felt something shift inside of her at his words, the look in his eyes, the compassion she saw there. She knew that he was a stranger but the fact that he had reached out to her made her feel like she wasn't isolated—a feeling she had grown used to over the years. She suddenly saw the possibility of not feeling alone, like a dusty shaft of light in a room that had once been dominated by the dark.

Finally Elise nodded, her eyes still fixed on his. As if he had read her mind he began to help her down and she felt his strong arms encircle her for a moment. Oddly, it was the safest she had felt in a long time and was sorry when he let go once she was back on the ground and steady on her feet.

“How about we get out of the rain?” he suggested, ducking his head against the drops of cold rain beginning to cascade upon them heavily. “I know a place nearby where we can get a warm drink.” He looked like he half expected her to say no. She vaguely wondered if he was just trying to keep an eye on her, for his own conscience sake. But she nodded wordlessly and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly in her wet clothes, as he led her away from the bridge.

Elise wondered why she found herself trusting this stranger completely. She looked up at him as they walked and studied his profile.  _If he hadn't stopped me, I would be dead by now_ , she thought suddenly. While that had been her goal coming to the bridge that night, in that moment she felt glad that she hadn't succeeded, that he had come along at the right moment.

She also inexplicably felt some kind of connection with him. Or perhaps it was just her emotions running high, feeling confusedly grateful that this man had essentially saved her life.

But then he returned her stare and smiled, and she felt it again, a sudden thrum in her chest, an understanding passing between them. Perhaps she was imagining it. What she knew for certain was that for the first time in a very long time she was actually glad she was alive. She welcomed the feel of the cold rain drops on her face, the breath of air she pulled in her lungs.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was originally a Henry Cavill fanfic but I'm really interested in turning this into a series and I think I can better do that while writing about Benedict :)
> 
> Constructive criticism and other comments in general are always welcome! Thank you for reading :)


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